The Moorish Idol Thread

You, like me, don't get stressed out when a little hair or slime alage shows up. WE've realised that it's part of the cycle in our tanks.
Click to expand...

Chevy, that is one of the things in this hobby that drives me crazy. Hair algae information. I can't believe that people see some algae and the first thing they do is buy dozens of snails or a rabbitfish and in a couple of weeks, when the stuff dies, they think that little fish ate it. I can't read those posts anymore.
And this forum is full of pages and pages of what animals to put in to eat the stuff. I am fed up to here (my hand is under my chin
:lol: ) with this mis-information.
I just can't wait until everyone has a tank for three decades so they can see these cycles.
Anyway, have a great day.
Paul
 
Those and the ones that try to tell you that the spectrum of your light is changing and causing it to grow. :rolleyes:

I always ask them why then, when I had natural sunlight shining on my tank, I did not have any hair alage growing on that side of the tank?

Or that low flow is the cause of red slime. They still can't answer me why then I have red slime growing right in the middle of a 5000GPH flow on my rocks.
 
Yeah, I like the sprectrum ones, Chevy I have red slime growing on the outlet end of both of my powerheads.
I am going to get a blue leg hermit crab to eat all of it.
I understand they have big stomachs, much larger than their shells. I have seen one eat an entire head of romain lettuce. :lol:

Guys, keep putting snails, crabs, tangs, sea slugs, rabbitfish and lawnmowers in there if you like, it will take care of the very short growth of the stuff but you should save that money and take your girlfriends out to dinner. (or buy me dinner)

The stuff can grow overnight and whatever eats it comes out the other end in a few hours as algae food.

What was this thread about anyway? :D
Paul
 
Hehe... I have maybe a dozen Turbos, maybe a dozen each of Ceriths and Nassas (populations explode and die back), and that's in the 450. ;) I think I've got maybe a half dozen hermits in there too. :D
 
Kieron, I also have a bunch of crabs, snails and a sea hare. I just like them. Theres probably a hundred brittle stars too but I never put any of them in on purpose.
Paul
 
Since this is the Moorish Idol thread I would like to update and say my Idol is still eating out of his dish, there are pictures at the beginning of this thread somewhere. The dish is now completely covered in coraline algae but the Idol still checks it out every minute or so. I believe this is the most important thing that has kept this fish thriving. Since his dorsal srteamer was decimated by a foxface, it never grew back. Besides that he seems healthy and eats like a pig. As a matter of face he eats much more than the other 15 fish combined and he is still really messing up my water. It is a ballance to keep him fed and keep algae growing. I feed him twice a day in the dish automatically and another feeding of sponge, banana, mysis, krill, seaweed, fish etc.
Paul
 
Mine's also still eating. Preferred foods, in order of preference:

1. NLS Pellet
2. Formula Two Flake
3. Clams on the Halfshell
4. SFBB Mussels
5. ON Angel Formula
6. Various other ON, SFBB, and Hikari foods excluding Brine Shrimp, Mysis Shrimp, and Bloodworms/Glassworms.

Added another MI this weekend, shows exactly the same preferences for NLS Pellet and Formula Two flake.
 
NP. Actually, Pablo Tepoot has been keeping Idols successfully for years on the stuff exclusively. His longest attempts lasted 5 years and only died during an extended power outage.
 
Kieron, thats interesting. I never heard of him. Where is he from? Do you know the size of the tank he keeps them in?
Paul
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7900610#post7900610 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by KDodds
New Life Spectrum - All Purpose Blend, 1mm pellets.
Click to expand...

Do you have a recomend link where we can purchase this food from?
 
Interesting. The 400G tank I got, the guy had been using NLS pellets to feed the fish. They are all BIG and healthy. I've continued to use them and haven't seen anything negative when using them. I'll have to check out his site. Maybe someone has found something here.
 
For those who are feeding your fish NLS (New Life Spectrum) do you scatter the food around the tank? I plop my food in one spot but some food goes between the rocks and never to be seen. Was worried about the pellets fouling my water. At least with flakes it floats in the water column a little longer than the NLS which sinks
 
I would never just throw food into my reef. I want all of it to be eaten. Pellets I feed in a dish with a tube up to the surface and everything else I feed with a large baster looking thing.
None of the food goes missing around the rocks. My crabs are not happy about that but I am.

Kieron, his fish look great but I think 2000 gallons of water helps a lot too.
Paul:lol:
 
I hold mine underwater so it will soak in a little water so that it sinks. Otherwise it tends to float into the overflow. Most of my fish will not eat floating food. Some does go into the rocks but the smaller fish get to it or the big fish blow it out. I haven't seen any problems in my tank with it. And I don't have any crabs to eat the left overs, only a couple of extra large starfish. ;)
 
I am going out boating today and I found a new supply for sponge to feed the moorish Idol. This stuff grows like crazy here in New York. The Idol is really the only fish that eats it, it is disquesting really. The other fish pick at it but they mostly just give me dirty looks.
:lol:

Paul
:dance:
 
LOL, yeah 2000g is a lot to play with. :) Mine are in a 450. I'd recommend a minimum of 300 for Idols.

NLS pretty much sinks where you drop it, barring water movement, and does so pretty quickly. My larger Idol (4 months, ~4.5-5", purchased at 2-2.5") does not feed from the water's surface, but will eat from the water column or any substrate (hard surface, including sand and rock). The smaller one (1 week, ~3") will feed from the water's surface, any substrate, and anywhere in between. He's a little battered and bruised from the PBT and larger Idol (mostly the larger Idol at this point) but continues to eat like a little pig.

Note the growth rate above in the longer kept Idol. These guys grow fast when housed appropriately. Don't think you'll "get away" with a lesser tank in the hopes of getting a larger one "in the future". He shows no signs of slowing down, either. In fact, he may be a little over 5" at this point, I haven't checked in the last week or so. As fast as they can become emaciated, when they're healthy and feeding they can grow just about as quickly. If you MUST get one, make sure it's going into an appropriately large tank of decent (1 year of more of problem-less running) maturity.

Heed my warnings as well, wait on any competing species (Tangs, Rabbits, Centropyge) until you have the Idol(s) in, especially aggressive ones.
 
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